Sumo

It’s the only sport where being obese is encouraged. Sumo wrestling has a long and significant tradition in Japan. But modern society has slowly been digging its grubby mitts into those oversized nappies of theirs, with gambling, match fixing and organised crime becoming an almost permanent aspect of the sport.
As an escape from the scandal sumo has been attracting, photographer Paolo Patrizi has documented the daily routine of a wrestler and the strict codes of behaviour associated with it, highlighting how controlled their life is. What the wrestlers eat, how they wear their hair, what they’re allowed to wear in public is all regulated. It’s a surreal world where grown men are forced to do chores like holding a higher ranking wrestler’s towel and made to take naps to help put on weight after large lunches.